Shock and Vengeance

There might seem few places less likely to be scorched by the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, than Nepal. Outside Kathmandu, the Himalayan kingdom exists in a timeless trance of mountains and road-free valleys all but lost to the present day. True, the country faces a very serious internal-security threata Maoist rebellionbut even that menace underscores the fact that Nepal is fighting the battles of the last century.

Last week the age of terror caught up with Nepal. On Aug. 31 the Iraqi extremist group Ansar al-Sunna announced that it had killed 12 Nepalese migrant workers kidnapped outside...